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Heidall slumped forward… in exhaustion… in victory… and in misery…. he didn't even know that he was crying. But he let himself think of her now. Lying back there in that cave. Beaten and broken and bloody. But carrying on strong to the end. Talking them through that last part. Making it all possible for them. He let himself feel sorry for her… and for himself for having to leave her behind.

====o0o==== End Part 12 ====o0o====

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PART 13: Delusions

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"Carter, if there is any chance that you can hear this, please respond,"

That was the Colonel's voice.

She was pleased that her delusions were so accurate. And she was grateful that her fever delusions were not nightmares of being chased by horrible alien monsters or some such.

Perhaps she should answer?
What could it hurt now?
She was so far gone, it couldn't matter, could it?

'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE'

…that was an ear piercing screech.

…that sounded like the rescue beacon on one of their radios.

…that could be activated remotely by search and rescue teams.

And it would mean that they felt that they were close enough to hear it.
That was usually only a few hundred yards or so.

They'd never hear it through the walls and rocks of this cave, though.

Why was she now acting like this was real?
It was a delusion.
Of course, good delusions were impossible to spot as delusions, right?

'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE'

"Sam, are you there? Sam please respond," that was Daniel again.

He sounded so real.

OK, just where was that radio?
There…….it was on the floor, just past the canteen.
It had slid just out of her reach.
She'd have to stretch or sit up to get to it.

She tried stretching first.
It seemed like the lowest energy attempt.
But the stretching was not working.
She couldn't reach it.
It was still several inches from her fingers.

"Sierra Golf One-Niner to Sierra Golf One-Two. Please respond."
The Colonel again.
Good to know that he was alive…at least in her delusions.

She decided to try rolling slightly onto her side while curling her body in a little.

PAIN!

The pain was horrible.
Her vision greyed and spots swam in front of her.
Nausea swept through her and she was sure that she was going to retch.

Breath, slow breaths. In….in….slow….now…out….slow…slow….in…..in….slow….careful….

She lay on the floor immersed in the pain, the heat of the fever and the ragged slow breaths.

She looked towards the radio.
It was silent now.
Her delusions appeared to have temporarily quieted.

Extending her arm, she could now reach the radio. Closing her fingers around it she slowly allowed herself to roll back so that she was lying face up again. The pain and nausea swept across her. Her vision threatened to grey out again, but the swimming spots did not appear this time.

She lay on her back with the radio in her hand by her side.

Now what?

It was quiet in the cave.

She could hear nothing coming from the radio.
No delusions speaking to her.

"Sam, please, talk to us. Please tell us that you are alive. We are coming to get you. Please talk to us," Daniel's voice came through the radio clearly.

Hmmmmm….now her delusions were getting more chatty.

'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE'

And she could feel the radio vibrating in her hand.

She could feel it!

Now…could that be a delusion?

Probably, she figured. Why not?

'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE'

And it vibrated in her hand again.

OK, so maybe…so, what if…what if it isn't a delusion?

Moving the radio up to her chest, she keyed the talk button, "Rrrtttmmmthh…" was all she could croak out. Well, that wasn't very impressive…nor effective….

'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE' 'WHHEEEEEEEE'

She tried again, "Dan'l…Krrn'l…" a little closer to something intelligible… but it also made her throat hurt and it was making her want to cough…and she didn't want to go there…she didn't think she'd stay conscious if she had a coughing bout.

Sighing, she relaxed and decided to think about her audio delusions.

==========================

They had started trying to clear the rubble from the area Captain Heidall had indicated as the cave entrance. Jack and Daniel continued attempting to raise Sam on the radio.

O'Neill watched the soldiers around him.
No one was talking.
Everyone was just grimly laboring at moving the heavy rocks.
This had become a depressing retrieval mission instead of a recovery attempt.

"ckkktthhttrr…" everyone froze at the noise that came over their radios.

Everyone was staring at O'Neill. Daniel's eyes were wide.

Jack narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow. Reaching for his radio, he depressed the locator button that was keyed to Carter's radio. They all strained to hear the rescue beacon through the rocks.

"kkkkttthhhh…," the radios crackled again and then, "dn'l…krn'l…" unintelligible…but definitely someone speaking….

It was her! She was…alive! The shocked looks of incredulity were amazing.

Jack's face split into a wide grin only beaten by Daniel's whoop of joy.

Teal'c and the others returned to their rock-removal task with newly infused fervor.

"Carter, we heard that!" Jack spoke into his radio. "We are coming for you. Don't move."

"Sam…Sam….we are right outside. We're digging out some rocks. We'll be right with you," Daniel babbled into his radio.

"Carter? Carter, talk to us, Major," O'Neill ordered as he helped remove rocks.

==========================

Forty minutes later, Teal'c broke through. It was just a small hole, a few inches across, but he tried to peer inside. Seeing nothing but darkness, he called, "MajorCarter?"

Everyone else stopped and looked over at Teal'c.

Silence echoed back at them.

"Here, try this," Colonel Roberts handed Teal'c a flashlight. Shining the flashlight through the tiny opening, Teal'c tried to see into the cave.

Dirt and rocks. "I do not see anything yet, however, the cave does appear to continue much further back and…," he paused and tried to make out some shapes on the floor of the cave.

"Carter?" Jack tried on the radio again.

"Carter?" Teal'c could hear the sound of O'Neill's voice through a radio somewhere inside the cave.

"I heard a radio receive your call, O'Neill. I can also see something on the floor of the cave; however, I can not make out what it is. I also believe that I see light but I can not see the source of the light," Teal'c continued.

"Allright, campers, let's get this hole widened so we can get in there," O'Neill directed. With renewed efforts, the rescue party tore at the remaining rocks and dirt.

Another 20 minutes passed before they had a hole large enough for anyone to squeeze through. "Sir?" Captain Heidall addressed the Colonel, "I can get through there," he appealed.

Eyeing the opening, O'Neill assessed the risks and then nodded. Everyone stepped around to give the Captain both clearance and support if he needed it.

Heidall turned his flashlight on and extended his arms in front of him as he shimmied through the small opening. Dirt and small rocks showered down on his back. A few minutes later, he slid down the inside of the rock and dirt pile into the cave. The opening behind him had half filled with dirt and rocks again.

"Heidall, you OK, in there?" Colonel Roberts was peering in through the small opening.

"Yes, sir," he responded quickly.

Sweeping his light around the cave, he quickly spotted the injured Major lying beside her pack and gear. "Sir, I see her."

Quickly moving over to her side, "Major Carter?"

She did not reply. Her eyes were half-closed and her face was feverish. She held the radio in her right hand and he could see her flashlight by her side. A medkit was open next to her open pack.

"Sir, she's alive!" Heidall called into his radio. "Her pulse is weak and thready. Respiration is shallow and uneven. She's also running a high fever."

He could hear the rocks and dirt moving behind him as the others worked to widen the cave's exit.

"Carter?" O'Neill was suddenly beside the Captain. He was shining his light over her and trying to get her to respond to him.

Jack was horrified at the extent of her injuries and terrified that she was going to die on him. There was blood all over her leg and shoulder. Her face was covered in sweat and her eyes were unfocussed. He felt her neck for her pulse. Weak and thready…just like the Captain had reported. And she was hot…she was burning up.

"Sir?" the Captain offered O'Neill his open water bottle. Without taking his eyes off of her, Jack took the canteen and carefully dribbled a little into her mouth. Just a little. She wasn't lucid enough to know what they were doing and he didn't want to cause her to cough or spasm.

"Jack?" Daniel was by his side, and he heard the archeologist's quick intake of breath at seeing Sam's condition. They'd all known that she was severely injured. And they'd all known that it was most likely that she was dead. However, she was alive…and very obviously in a great deal of pain. Jack glanced at Daniel and saw the open look of anguish on the archeologist's face.

"Sam, Hold on," Daniel spoke to her softly. "We're going to take you home and fix you up."

Behind them, the medics were moving a stretcher through the enlarged opening. Teal'c joined them. "We are now prepared to move MajorCarter, O'Neill."

They moved the stretcher alongside her and Teal'c laid a blanket alongside her body. While Daniel held her head, they slowly lifted her left side and slid the blanket underneath her, with some extra pleats for their next move. She twitched and moved in pain when they touched her, mumbling things that they couldn't quite make out. Daniel spoke to her softly to try and focus her attention on something besides what they were doing.

"Sam, we've missed you a lot over the past few days. Jack and Teal'c don't want to listen to my ramblings about inscriptions and myths. I tried talking to my plants, but it hasn't helped. I even tried talking to -your- plants, but that didn't help either."

"Wht lnnnggdd uty…" she mumbled something and twisted a bit in their grasp and everyone froze.

"Latin and Ancient Egyption…," Daniel replied with a face-splitting grin. Captain Heidall looked bewildered as he saw unabashed grins on both O'Neill's and Teal'c's faces. The smile on Teal'c's face actually stunned the young Captain…he'd always thought that the Jaffa was something like a Vulcan Mr. Spock, but the now-present smile on the Jaffa's face made him look… -almost- friendly. All three male members of SG-1 were looking at the Major with unconcealed love and hope. Heidall respectfully remained silent.

Slowly lowering her down onto the blanket, they repeated the procedure and slowly lifted her right side while O'Neill gently pulled the blanket under her.

"Sam," Daniel was continuing, "I want you to see the ruins on P4X-836. I was only there for 2 days a few months ago, but they have this ancient machine that no one can figure out. But I know that you can…," and he continued softly talking to her about the inscriptions on the artifact and the native mythology surrounding the ruins.

With the blanket stretched out below her, they carefully lifted the blanket and Sam onto the stretcher. Daniel continued softly talking to her and she occasionally mumbled things that they couldn't quite make out.

Once on the stretcher, they carefully secured her and then they passed the stretcher through to the others waiting outside. Scrambling out with her pack and gear, they saw that she was on the ground between the two medics who were taking her vitals and assessing her injuries. Trying to stay out of their way, but trying to stay as close as possible, the others crowded around.

A few minutes later, one of the young medics addressed O'Neill, "Sir, she is shocky and her temperature is 105°. She has several infections as well as burns and cuts. We can't do much for her injuries here, sir, we need to get her to the SGC as soon as possible…," but everyone could see that the young medic did not think that she was going to survive.

"Then let us move quickly," Teal'c spoke firmly as he leaned down to take one corner of the stretcher. Jack, Daniel and Colonel Roberts quickly picked up the other three corners. Captain Heidall had tried to step forward and help, but Colonel Roberts spoke to him, "You've done a good job son, you lead the way back."

"Yes, sir," the Captain reluctantly followed his orders.

They covered ground as fast as they could without causing the stretcher to bounce uncomfortably. The stretcher bearers were relieved every 20 minutes to keep them fresh so that they could maintain speed.

The medics constantly monitored her pulse and respiration.

Daniel and the others continued talking to her although she didn't respond with anything other than mumbles.

They had been moving nonstop and they were approximately 2.5 clicks from the gate when one of the medics suddenly ordered, "STOP, put her down. She's not breathing!"

They quickly laid the stretcher down as gently as they could while the medic felt for a pulse. "Pulse is weak and thready." And then he leaned down and began rescue breathing. Everyone else held their breath.

The second medic continued to monitor her pulse while the first medic continued rescue breathing.

"Carter!" Jack barked. "Carter! You need to fight, dammit!" His words were harsh, but he couldn't keep the fear off of his face.

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====o0o==== End Part 13 ====o0o====

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